"How can one know about death when they don't yet understand the principles of life?"

"To know the state after death, one should first know the state before life."

As Ji Xiang finished speaking, he heard a slight exhalation in his ear, and Zhu Changluo in his eyes seemed to have a double image, as if there were two people standing in front of him.

Zhu Changluo pondered for a moment, then stopped asking about death and instead asked about life:

"Then what is the Daoist's so-called principle of life?"

Ji Xiang lowered his head slightly again and replied:

"Life is my fate."

"When a person is alive, life and death are in their own hands. External changes are produced by the heart. One cannot be buried in the ground, nor can one reach the heavens. This is called my fate lies with me, not with Heaven."

"Your Highness should also understand that these things are controlled by oneself and should not be sought externally. If you cannot even understand this life, how can you expect a better life after reincarnation?"

My fate is up to me, not Heaven, and I will become a golden elixir for billions of years.

This was first said by the True Man Ge Hong, and later, Qiang Mingzi of the Liang Dynasty and Zhang Boduan of the Northern Song Dynasty also quoted this sentence many times in their works.

The moment of birth, the moment when one should have died, and the fate one carries are all innate. But only this "my fate" can be controlled by oneself.

Daoists of all ages have thoroughly implemented this idea.

Why cultivate?

Because one must rebel against the destiny determined by Heaven. This is why the immortal path values life.

At this time, Zhu Changluo pondered in silence.

Originally, he thought he was just a young Dharma master sweeping the courtyard and guarding the gate, with low magic power. Who would have thought that he would have such insights? And the most bizarre thing was that this person was actually still alive... and even discussing matters of life, death, gods, and ghosts with him.

This was simply a demon.

Had the assassination failed, or had it not happened, or did this demon in front of him have special means?

Zhu Changluo wondered, the person beside him had been so confident when he said he would curse this young Daoist to death, guaranteeing that it would be foolproof.

Zhu Changluo had originally come here this morning to confirm Ji Xiang's corpse, but he didn't expect that this young Daoist in front of him didn't seem to be an ordinary person after all.

These gods were truly unreliable; he had really misjudged.

Killing people with incense was, after all, an inferior path. For these Daoists, there was indeed a way to break it.

But many of the things Ji Xiang said did indeed make Zhu Changluo feel that they made some sense.

"It seems that little Daoist, you are truly not a simple person."

"The palace servants said that the Wudang Mountain Daoist lineage was about to decline, but now it seems that this is not the case. You are greatly hidden in the court, here to temper your original heart."

"But if the ruler wants his subject to die, how can you not die?"

Zhu Changluo walked to the door of the hall, suddenly stopped, and turned his head to ask:

"Speaking of which, little Daoist, you are only slightly older than me. The reason why you started cultivating... this choice, was it not decided by yourself?"

"You say that cultivators can change their destiny, and that life and death are in one's hands, and changes come from the heart. Then, what will you ultimately obtain?"

Ji Xiang still lowered his head slightly:

"Rejoice in life and delight in death, I remain free amidst joys and sorrows; when the heart arises, it dwells eternally in the Purple Court."

After saying these words, he stopped speaking, putting on an air of a transcendent master.

But Ji Xiang was not talking nonsense. After all, he had wandered in Fuli for a long time, and now that he had come back to life, he was not a normal person. Since smiling is also a day, and sorrowing is also a day, it was better to be happy.

Zhu Changluo was silent for a while, and the inside and outside of the hall became very quiet again, with only the chirping of some birds remaining. He finally said one sentence:

"Daoist, rest early tonight."

Zhu Changluo did not turn his head, and went straight out of the Longde Hall, his face already gloomy.

Step by step, he slowly walked away, until he reached the courtyard gate of the Longde Hall. The feeling of stepping on solid ground at that moment allowed him to slowly regain his senses and sort out the chaotic thoughts in his mind.

At this moment, it seemed that something was about to be settled.

Among the two eunuchs beside Zhu Changluo, one of them spoke up at this time:

"Your Highness, what was the meaning of the last words you spoke with that little Daoist from Wudang Mountain? This servant doesn't quite understand."

Zhu Changluo tilted his head slightly, just as he reached the door, half of his face was in shadow, and half of his face was in the light.

He looked out of the corner of his eye at the eunuch who had spoken impudently, feeling immense disgust in his heart.

"It's just that I haven't had such a pleasant conversation with anyone for a long time. I just asked a few casual questions. This is also our first meeting. Does Consort Zheng even have to manage this?"

"What do you think I meant?"

The eunuch showed an ugly smile:

"These Daoists, whenever they have some small tricks, exhaust their abilities to flatter those above them."

"During the time of the Jiajing Emperor, the demon Daoist Tao Zhongwen caused chaos in the palace. At that time, the Crown Prince developed smallpox. This Tao Zhongwen set up an altar to pray, and used some unknown means to cure the Crown Prince's illness. After that, the Jiajing Emperor trusted this demon Daoist very much, even granting him the position of 'Three Solitaries' all the way."

"Even now, the poison of this demon Daoist is still difficult to eradicate. There are many in the palace who seek elixirs and pursue the Dao. Your Highness must not be bewitched by these demon Daoists, lest you lose your position as Crown Prince because of such trivial matters as believing in demon Daoists. Consort Gong's health is not good, so don't cause her any trouble...."

The eunuch's tone carried a kind of mockery and gloating, and Zhu Changluo took a few deep breaths, keeping silent.

Isn't this how eunuchs are? They are arrogant when their master is in power, and like wild dogs when their master loses power.

Zhu Changluo knew that Consort Zheng would probably place some people here in the next period of time to seize his handle. The words he said today were indeed a bit too much, and had gone too far.

However, he probably wouldn't be directly attacked. After all, during this period of time, Consort Zheng had been desperately pretending to be a virtuous wife and loving mother in front of the ministers in order to support her own son and win over people's hearts....

However.

It didn't matter.

Zhu Changluo's gaze looked into the distance, as if he could clearly see the Qianqing Palace through the obstruction of many high walls.

He silently muttered in his heart:

After the great fire tonight, everything will be clean.

"This is what you forced me to do... My fate lies with me, not with others."

......

Ji Xiang watched the First Prince leave the Longde Hall, his mind never ceasing to think.

His predecessor had not had any contact with this First Prince, yet he had been inexplicably cursed to death, and he had even come here specifically to see if he was dead or alive, indicating that his predecessor had long been targeted by him and listed as an object to be killed.

Then, with a simple deduction.

It was not to kill his predecessor.

But to kill the Daoist of the Longde Hall.

No matter who this Daoist was, he could not live.

In political struggles, countless people die because of their identity and alignment. It is not necessarily the case that one has to offend the other party to die. Sometimes, the reason for death is simply because you should not exist in the enemy's plan.

If the other party believes that you will hinder him, then you will be labeled as someone who must be killed.

Calamity from nowhere, this was roughly it.

Ji Xiang did not consider himself a good person. It was one thing that his predecessor was burned to death, but now they still wanted to deal with him, so he didn't need to show any mercy.

Of course, killing a prince was too exciting, so he would avoid it. He had just gotten a fresh body, and he shouldn't put it in danger.

To deal with a proper god, there was naturally a way to deal with a proper god, but he didn't know whether the fire god behind the other party was a spirit taking the position of a fire god, or whether the position of a fire god had been obtained by certain people.

Or was it some kind of fire-related demon?

The former was easier to deal with than the latter. This was called ghosts and monsters that appear as they are were easy to kill. You can tell at a glance that they were not human, so you could just beat them to death.

But if this "ghost" or "monster" was wearing human skin, it would be very troublesome.

"He wants to kill me, and if he doesn't kill me once, he will definitely kill me again. And the incense on his body does not belong to him, so it belongs to the fire god who set the fire."

With his third-level cultivation, he was not strong enough to deal with this kind of fire god. Ji Xiang wanted to find out the other party's true form, predicting that the other party would come again tonight.

The opponent's strength was unknown, but to be able to move around in the palace and run around at will under the power of the country, this fire god was not simple.

The proper god relied on the prince, and he could neither hurt people nor touch the proper god.

"Zhu Changluo, fire god, borrowing a body...."

"I don't know if my persuasion can make him slightly change his mind and actively separate from that fire god. He thinks he is using this proper god, but this proper god doesn't know what he is using him for."

"The golden tendons and jade bones of the third level are definitely not a match for this fire god. I need to set up talismans."

As Ji Xiang thought about this, with just a thought, a magic sword that had been sorted out earlier and placed in the corner of the hall was suddenly drawn into his hand from the air.

Ji Xiang then tapped the sword's body with his fingers, and the green smoke wafting from the three incense sticks in the incense burner in front of him immediately wrapped around the sword's blade like vines. Immediately afterwards, with a wave of his hand, dozens of yellow talismans rose up together with the smoke from the incense!

The door of the main hall closed on its own without anyone touching it, with a bang, bringing up a gust of wind.

Ji Xiang made a gesture, and those dozens of yellow talismans were immediately plastered all over the doors and windows, chanting words in his mouth. As the chanting continued and time passed, the yellow talismans were burned with strange words by the incense.